PS stands for Plain and Simple! I love writing stories to enhance reading of God's Word. The Holy Bible has always been transforming lives and penetrative to our inner souls where no other books can ever do. I desire every Christian to love God's Word as fresh bread from the oven of heaven!

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Judea: Born again? This phrase was
made famous by Jesus through Nicodemus, a well-known figure from a political
party called the Pharisees. He confronted Jesus late one night when he was
afraid to let others see him with Jesus, because the other Pharisees hated
Jesus. Deep inside him, he knew that Jesus was not just a man. “Is He God?” he
often asked himself for he saw all the miracles He did. That day, the meeting
with Jesus Himself changed him forever.

He was taken aback when Jesus uttered this
statement, “I tell you the truth, no one can see kingdom of God
unless he is born again.” The last two words, especially, created a great
curiosity in him. He had never heard of such a phrase before in his entire
life. Impossible! He knew in his own life he had done many bad things and if he
could go back to his mother’s womb and be born again, that would be great.
Probably, he would try to be a better person.

Jesus then began to teach him what “born
again” really meant. It was indeed impossible for Nicodemus to be born again
through the human help of his mother.

There was a greater meaning in those two
words awaiting him. It was more powerful than he could ever imagine.

God, the Creator was waiting to recreate
him and make him into a new person. He could now become a new creation or be
“born again”.

“Born again” here meant being born of God
and that was far better than being born by human descent. In other words, he
could be saved from going to hell and instead, would be on the way to Heaven
where he can live forever and ever with God.

Jesus led Nicodemus to focus on the
heavenly things when He said that he must be born again. That’s why Jesus told
him that He Himself came from Heaven and He could be trusted.

Then Jesus uttered the greatest statement
and the most beautiful one for the entire world to hear.

“For
God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes
in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

From then on, Nicodemus knew that God
offered hope to every man who needed to come near to God. The hope of eternal
life. That hope was in Jesus.

Tears began to well up in his eyes as he
knew that God had finally revealed the truth to him and was giving him the chance to be born again.
He understood it all. He had to believe in the Son of God, who was just
standing right in front of him.

That night, Nicodemus thanked God over and
over again that he was able to meet Jesus. “What
if I hadn’t met him?” or “What if I had been so afraid of my friends that I missed the greatest appointment of my life?”
He didn’t dare to imagine the consequences. He went back home reiterating the
same words, “I need to be born again”

He was also committed to tell others too. “You
need to be born again,” he told others confidently.
– PS BIBLE News

REFLECTION

Everyone needs
to be born again! The good news is everyone can be born again. This story was
found in John chapter 3. God said in
His Word that whoever believes
in Jesus shall not perish but have eternal life. The word ‘whoever’ includes
you and me. God is always waiting for us to call upon Him because He loves us
very much. “Everyone who calls on the
name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13) Have you called upon Jesus
to save you? If not, why don’t you do it today?

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Galilee: Peter, a strong disciple of
Jesus was extremely sad. When his Master was cruelly hung on a cross, he ran
away from the scene. His mind couldn’t take anymore the anguish of being so
helpless. He had already denied Jesus three times when He was put on trial.
Moreover, he was thinking real hard about why Jesus as God could have been so
easily and humbly captured by mere men. He was confused and frustrated.

Peter
and the rest of the disciples of Jesus were shocked when their Master appeared
in front of them even though the doors were locked. When Jesus had calmed them down, they were
all overjoyed, especially Peter. He had every reason to rejoice because he
wanted to turn away from God after failing many times to be a good disciple.
Now, his hope had been rekindled once more.

One
of Jesus’ disciples named Thomas did not want to believe this extraordinary
occurrence unless he could touch Jesus himself. The next day, Jesus appeared to Thomas and
asked him to touch His hands. After realising Jesus had indeed risen from the
dead, he went down on his knees and worshipped Jesus as his Lord and his God.
Jesus forgave his disciples for running away when He needed them to stand by
Him at the cross. All of them repented from their cowardice. Peter was the one
with most hurt when he saw his Saviour alive again. His heart broke into many
pieces when he renounced Jesus. In his mind, he did not want to see Jesus
at all. He was too ashamed.

One
day Jesus took him aside and forgave him personally. He asked Peter three times
whether he still loved Him. This triggered off the memory that he had renounced
Jesus three times, too. Peter felt his heavy guilt lifted away from within him. In tears, he understood now that Jesus had
known everything about him all along. His nagging
question of whether he could still serve and follow Jesus was answered in a
remarkable way. Jesus asked him to tend to all His people
and to glorify Him. Peter was overjoyed and made a commitment to follow Him all
the way even if it meant dying on the cross.

(After
having served the Lord for many years, Peter died for his faith in Jesus on a
cross hung upside down. He died as a martyr. He was happy to die for His Master as he
knew He would take him home to Heaven to live forever!) – PS BIBLE News

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s
mighty hand that He may lift you up in due time. CAST ALL YOUR ANXIETY ON HIM BECAUSE HE
CARES FOR YOU - 1 Peter 5:6-7

REFLECTION

This story is found in the book of John
chapter 20 and 21. It tells us that Jesus is indeed risen from the dead. What
does that mean to you? To Jesus’ disciple, it was a hope rekindled after He
left them. They were a confused lot when their Master died on the cross. They
were so delighted to know that Jesus’ words had come to pass when He said that
He would rise again from the dead when they literally saw Him alive again.

What about you? Does Jesus rising from the
dead mean anything to you? Absolutely yes! In fact, to you and everyone who
lives on the earth. All the other founders of different religions in this world
died. Their graves are still here on earth. Jesus is the only Person who
claimed that He was God and proved it by rising from the dead. And He really
did it! Nobody ever found Jesus’ body and nobody ever will because He is risen.
Therefore, Christians are not believing in a dead man’s testimony but words right
from the mouth of a living Saviour!

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Damascus: An amazing thing happened to a nasty man named Saul. He was greatly feared for his atrocities
toward the people from the church. Back in Jerusalem, he used to beat them and drag them
to prisons to be tortured. His heart cared for no one except for his pride in
obeying the laws of his religion. He was very close to the high priest of his
religion. Once, Saul asked him to grant an approval for him to capture the
Christians who fled to Damascus,
a city far away from Jerusalem.
He was very persistent in persecuting them. More amazingly, the Christians were
not angry with him. Instead they prayed for him. they believed the Creator God
is stronger than anyone in this world.

While Saul was travelling to Damascus to persecute
them, he saw a powerful glaring light. It was so magnificent, shining form
above the clouds that Saul and his companions were thrown off their horses.
Then a powerful voice started to thunder from where the light came. “Saul,
Saul, why do you persecute me?” the voice said. Saul asked, “Who are you,
Lord?” The voice replied, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”

Saul was spellbound and sat on the ground
in utter disbelief. Was he wrong in turning against the people who believed in
Jesus? Was Jesus alive as the Christians claimed Him to be? Question after
question pounded in his confused mind.

He wanted to look at the light again just to
see if it was still there but he could not see a thing. He realised then that he was blind!

His companion did not know the meaning of
the light and the voice. They led him to a house in Straight Street near here and quickly ran
off.

One of the disciples of Jesus named Ananias
was called by God to go to him. He was a bit hesitant due to this notorious man
and his fervour in persecuting the Christians.

He obeyed the Lord Jesus. He went to the
house where Saul stayed and prayed for him. Instantly, Saul was healed of his
blindness. He then told Saul what Jesus had done for him.

Finally, the truth was revealed to Saul in
a miraculous way. Today, he knows that Jesus is his risen Saviour and Lord. He is
still shaking his head at the wonderful mercy of Jesus for giving him a chance
even though he was murderous in dealing with God’s people.

And so is Ananias. He cannot comprehend how
God is so compassionate and loving in saving Saul.

No matter how bad a person may be, God is
able to change him. – PS BIBLE News

REFLECTION

Another powerful story from the Bible! It
is found in the book of Acts chapter nine. God can change a murderous and unmerciful man
into a beautiful saint. How true! After Saul was saved by the Lord Jesus, he
went to his own people, who once were together with him persecuting the
Christians, to tell them about the Saviour, Jesus. What an amazing turnaround!
Have you experienced it yourself? If not, why not let Jesus add colour to your
life?

Jesus
said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” John 10:10b

The main reason for Jesus to come to this
earth is to save mankind from their sins. Sin in this world has clouded mankind
from seeing the true colours of life through God’s eyes. Jesus loves us so much
and he could not bear to see us going through life in doubts, disappointments,
despair and finally towards destruction. He came so that our life could be full
of happiness, hope and love. We can see clearly now the way that leads us to
Heaven and towards ultimate joy with Jesus as our living Saviour.

Therefore, let us walk in His way and
follow His commands. Some people do not have joy in God because they choose not
to follow Jesus and do what He says. That’s why there are still millions of
people living in darkness and despair. The good news is that many people too,
have taken the right step to follow Jesus. They have found the joy that they
never had before in Jesus. Have you?

Jordan: On the hill of Jordan while
most of the people still sleeping, a tremendous fight took place. It was a
fight of different nature. PS BIBLE News called it ‘The Duel Between Light and
Darkness’.

Jesus Christ,
claimed that He is God who came as a Man, went there to pray when he met Satan,
nicknamed ‘The devil’. The devil had been very active lately trying to deceive
the villagers to turn away from God. He wanted to disrupt Jesus from doing
God’s will and so decided to tempt him. Satan wanted the Son of God to bow down
and worship him as he had done so to many villagers before. The first subtle
attack came!

Thus, the fight
began! The Tempter said, “If you are really the Son of God, turn these stones
to bread” He knew that Jesus was hungry. Satan was shocked when Jesus refused
to yield to him. Instead Jesus challenged him with the Word of God. He said,
“Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth
of God” Jesus followed His heavenly Father instead of listening to Satan.

The devil was
dejected at the defeat. As usual, he did not quit. As they were walking towards
the highest point of a temple, he dared Jesus to jump down. This time, Satan
too quoted God’s Words but he was merely saying it to suit his own desire.

Jesus did not
jump. He was angry at Satan using God’s Word for a wrong purpose. Then he
jabbed the evil one with another round of God’s Word. He refused him by saying
“God says, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test’ ” With these powerful
words, he again foiled Satan’s attempt to make Him Satan’s servant. Satan was
devastated! The Word of God used by Jesus is too strong for the devil to
withstand.

Satan was
desperate! He led Jesus to a high mountain and showed him the beautiful kingdom
below.

This time he was
willing to give everything away to Jesus. Everything the devil ever had was
gained through deception. All these would be given to Jesus with one condition:
that he must bow and worship him alone. Satan laughed and thought surely this
time, Jesus would agree to his proposal. But “Away from me, Satan! God says,
‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only’,” Jesus rejected him.

“What!” The
devil screamed in anger. He covered his face and fled like one chased by a
hungry, fierce wolf.

The fight was over!

The infallible
word of God triumphed over evil. Truly, darkness has to flee when light comes!
– PS BIBLE News

REFLECTION

In this simple
story of the Bible, Jesus showed us the example of using God’s Word in times of
difficulties and temptation. This true story is found in Matthew 4:1-11. in
Hebrew 4:12, it says that the Word of God is living and active, sharper than
any double-edged sword, it penetrates deep inside us and judges our thoughts
and the attitude of our hearts. Psalm 119:105 says that the Word of God is a
lamp to our feet and a light to our path. It simply means the Word of God
guides us through this life!

God’s Word is like a sword! It is used to counter
Satan’s temptations. Ephesians 6:17

God’s Word is like fire and a hammer! It consumes and
crushes falsehood. Jeremiah 23:29

God’s Word is like water, washing away unrighteousness
from us. Ephesians 5:26;
see also John 15:3

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About Me

My name is Ronnie Ding. I was born in Sitiawan, Perak, Malaysia. My hometown was blessed when renowned Christian Leader Watchman Nee from China started a church there and later, evangelist John Sung came. Studied in Bible College of Malaysia. I love Jesus above everything else. I believe Bible as God's living Word, fresh for all generation! If any names appeared in any stories written in this blog being identical to anyone, they are purely coincidental. All comments in this blog will be promptly replied except those really offensive ones.